


An Extra Year of Christmas Presents

by Mobi_On_A_Mission



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Kid Fic, Parent John Murphy (The 100), memori doesn't know how to be parents yet, they're trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:55:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28398810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mobi_On_A_Mission/pseuds/Mobi_On_A_Mission
Summary: Murphy and Emori brought their newborn baby girl home on Christmas Eve. Parenting... was a learning curve.
Relationships: Emori/John Murphy (The 100)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 15
Collections: The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative





	An Extra Year of Christmas Presents

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know, I'm late to the party on (yet another) Christmas fic. It happens.

Nica cried the whole way home from the hospital. She not so much cried—more like screamed. It was honestly impressive how much lung power she had for only being a couple days old. Murphy clenched the steering wheel, trying to focus on the road and not on the screaming newborn. She was gonna be okay. They were gonna be okay. Right?

“It’s okay, sweet girl,” Emori cooed from the back seat, her own voice breaking up. “You’re gonna be just fine. Daddy’s a good driver, he’ll take good care of us.”

A little smile spread over his face. Emori didn’t talk to the baby much back when she was pregnant. He’d heard her from time to time, times when she thought she was alone. She’d rub her belly and dream—finally letting herself indulge in the domestic life neither of them had really had as kids.

Murphy almost wished they had more time like that: naive and dreaming, their child still an abstract concept. Now she was real. The second Murphy held Nica in his arms, everything Emori had said about becoming a parent made sense. Before it felt funny when she called him Nica’s daddy or someone else mentioned him and fatherhood in the same sentence, but now it felt right. He was terrified, but apparently that came with the territory.

Emori’s labour had caught them both off guard. She wasn’t due until mid January, and had shown no signs of rushing that schedule. But like the OB kept saying, babies make their own schedules. Nica came three weeks early and that was that.

It still took almost a full day of agony for Emori: contraction after contraction, groaning and cursing, squeezing onto Murphy’s hand like a lifeline. He couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been for her; it hurt to even watch her be in so much pain. If Murphy could take her place he would, but this was something she had to do herself.

Murphy wasn’t ready to be a dad, but now he was one. And somehow he felt responsible not just for his daughter, but for Emori too. He was exhausted, but he knew it must be worse for her.

He drove carefully, five miles under the speed limit. Even with salt layering the asphalt he didn’t trust the car to not skid off route, especially with the holiday traffic. Good thing it was Christmas Eve rather than New Years, or they might have never left the hospital.

Even with Emori’s attention, Nica did not stop crying. It was a fifteen minute drive, but it felt like a lifetime. Murphy hoped it would get easier with time, that soon he would become immune to the cries of his daughter. But more than that he just wanted her to be happy. She was gonna go through so much pain in this life, and the discomfort of being in the car was only the start of it.

Murphy thought she’d stop crying once they made it in the house, but if anything her screaming got worse. Her face was red and her eyes closed, mouth wide open letting out the most terrible sound. He paced the living room while Emori shushed her on the couch.

He went through the checklist. “Is she hungry?”

“I just fed her an hour ago.”

“Diaper?”

“You changed her right before we left!” Emori’s chin scrunched up. “Plus I checked, and no.”

Nica’s wails continued strong as ever, and Murphy’s head throbbed.

“Then what is wrong with her? Why won’t she stop crying?” Murphy had to hold back tears. It seemed the exhaustion of the last few days was finally getting to him.

“I don’t know, John.” Emori ran her fingers back through her hair, voice small and far away. “She’s just not happy.”

Murphy tried to calm himself down with deep breaths, focusing on that sensation rather than Nica’s screams. “Okay. She likes sucking, right? Give her your finger, Mori.”

Nica took the offered finger and ceased her screaming. Murphy pumped his fist in the air and let out a whoop—Emori shot him a death glare for that last bit but thankfully Nica didn’t mind.

Just as quickly as the house had erupted in noise it quieted, and the silence almost felt like too much. Murphy yawned and Emori invited him to sit next to her. He settled in on the couch and glanced up at their Christmas tree sitting in the corner of the room, lights dark since they hadn’t bothered to turn them on yet.

“Ya know, I think she might’ve just come early so she could demand an extra year of Christmas presents.” Murphy chuckled, even as his face hurt from exhaustion.

Emori looked up at him with wide eyes. “John. We don’t have any presents for our daughter on Christmas.”

Murphy hummed. “Yep. Guess she’s gonna be taken away from us now,” he deadpanned.

“This is her first Christmas. That’s supposed to be something special, isn’t it? I’m a terrible mom, I’ve failed her already-”

“-Hey,” Murphy interrupted her spiral, taking Emori’s face in his hand. “You’re doing amazing. I don’t think Nica’s gonna even notice. She’s two days old, baby.” He kissed her nose.

“This is our first holiday as parents. I feel like it should… _be_ something. You know?” Tears were leaking out of her eyes now, staining her red cheeks.

Murphy thought for a second. He couldn’t simply say Emori is being emotional, not without hurting her feelings. “Let’s worry about it tomorrow, okay? I think it’ll feel like less of a problem then.”

Emori nodded. “You’re right, I’m being crazy. I’m so tired, John.”

“I know,” he said earnestly. “But you’re doing so good. It’s normal to be tired. You just squeezed a little human out of you and now you’re healing, not to mention taking care of a newborn. Just one of those things is hard enough for me.” He glanced down to see Nica dozing against his chest. “C’mon, let’s squeeze in a little nap. I think we got an hour or so before she needs to eat again.”

Emori nodded sleepily and stood up with a hiss. It made Murphy’s heart clench to see her in so much pain. They’d spent so much time thinking about the labour and birth he’d hardly thought of what things would be like after they brought Nica home. But they’d barely begun. This is the part where the real parenting began, and as much as he’d prepared, Murphy had no idea how to be a dad.

* * *

It only took until the first diaper change at home before Murphy realized how ill-prepared they were for such a small baby. Before Nica was born, it seemed impossible for a human being to fit into diapers and clothes so tiny. Yet here she was, swimming in her onesie. He tried on all of the smallest clothes in the nursery, and nothing was small enough to fit Nica.

Apparently the nap he got after he and Emori passed out in bed wasn’t enough. She’d gotten up after a while to feed Nica, and now Murphy was letting her rest as he took care of Nica. Emori needed the sleep more than he did.

He settled down on the rocker in the nursery with Nica on his chest and called Raven.

“Hey cockroach!” she said when she picked up the phone. “What’s up?”

“Rey, I- I have no idea what I’m doing here.”

“Eh, you know a little bit and you know it. But you also know you can’t exactly expect to be an expert at the beginning.” She scoffed. “That’s just dumb.”

It felt good to hear her voice. People hadn’t been mean enough to him lately—most tried to be extra nice with the whole new parent thing. Murphy could always count on Raven to give it to him straight.

“That doesn’t change the fact that I’m sitting here staring at my baby and I just… what do I do?”

“I don’t know, cuddle her? Talk to her? I’m not the one who read seven different parenting books.”

“Oh, and I thought you knew everything?”

“I know your sass is gonna rub off on Nica and she’s gonna be just as insufferable as you are.”

Murphy smiled. A little sass master would be a real pain, but his daughter taking after him would be adorable. “If she’s not, I’m taking her back.”

“Back…” Raven trailed off. “... _where_ , exactly?”

He shrugged. “To get a paternity test, probably.”

Raven cackled over the phone. “Emori loves you too much for that to even be a possibility. Besides, the little smudge looks just like you.”

“Hey, who are you calling a smudge? I’m offended on both of our behalf.” Murphy looked down at Nica. She was absolutely perfect, and Raven was right: undoubtedly his. Beyond the blue eyes and almost luminescent pale skin, both of which she might grow out of, she was already sporting a hint of Murphy’s strong lines on her face. She didn’t have any eyebrows, though, which took him aback at first. They would grow in.

They both fell silent for a moment as Murphy inspected his daughter. He sighed. “The reason I called is- she’s so fucking tiny, Rey. She can’t even fit into the newborn clothes and we got for her.” At the hospital they’d given a couple, but he didn’t want to keep her in the same dirty clothes.

“And you didn’t realize this, I don’t know, the _minute she was born_?”

Murphy snorted. “I was kinda busy thinking about other things, Rey. The hospital provided all this stuff for us.”

There was a shuffle on the end of the line, then Raven spoke again. “Don’t worry about a thing; I’ll be over in about an hour.”

Murphy let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”

In lieu of a response, he heard a beep signaling Raven had hung up.

* * *

By the time Raven used her own key to walk in, Emori was awake in bed and feeding Nica again. Murphy went down to greet her, and damn did she come prepared with multiple Target bags, pre-made casseroles, and a neatly wrapped gift with a big red bow on top.

“What, are you moving in?”

“Auntie Rey’s here, move it.” Raven shoved past him and into the kitchen, where she set down everything and preheated the oven like she owned the place.

Murphy raised his hands in surrender and stepped back. “Alright, have at it.”

Raven made herself right at home in the kitchen, stocking the freezer and unpacking what she’d bought: an assortment of teeny onesies and diapers.

“Hopefully these fit. Realized when I got there that all this stuff is pretty confusing for someone who’s spent about a combined five hours with kids in the past ten years.”

Murphy rifled through the bags and unpacked their contents. “You’re about to get a lot more experience. You don’t get the title of Auntie without working for it.”

“The work is all in keeping you in line; don’t you forget it!”

Murphy grinned at her, then perked up and whipped his head around when he heard a creak on the floorboards. Emori came out from behind the wall, Nica in her arms and a tired smile on her face.

“Raven!”

Raven met her in the middle to meet her in a hug, careful with the baby between them. “Is she letting you get any rest?”

“Hardly. She’s practically suctioned onto my boob all day. They say it gets better, but god is it ever awful right now.” She sighed. “It’s a good thing she’s so cute.”

“Yes she is,” Raven cooed, scooping Nica out of her mother’s arms to rest on her own chest. She rocked back and forth as she followed Emori back by John, humming “Let it Snow” under her breath.

Murphy suppressed his chuckle. Raven was uncharacteristically soft with Nica, but he wasn’t about to discourage it.

Emori perked up at seeing the wrapped gift. “It’s for Nica.” She grinned. “Baby gets a Christmas gift afterall.”

Murphy bit back an _I told you so_. Nica’s Christmas was turning out just fine.

“Don’t thank me,” Raven said. “The gift is from Bellamy. I picked it up from his apartment after we got off the phone.”

“We’ll have to thank him,” Emori said as Raven transferred Nica to Murphy’s chest. “C’mon, let’s go open it.”

Murphy followed her to the couch and settled in next to her. Raven, gift in hand, plugged in the Christmas tree lights. They flickered to life, casting a soft glow over the dim room.

Murphy held Nica and looked on as Raven plopped the wrapped gift in Emori’s lap. Emori ran her fingers over the matte paper, landing on the small tag written in Bellamy’s all caps handwriting.

“To: Nica,” she read. “Merry Christmas.”

Nica didn’t pay her any attention, but Murphy smiled and kissed her temple, urging her onwards. Emori’s fingers danced over it, savoring the moment for a couple seconds before tearing in at the seams at the end. She uncovered an unmarked cardboard box held closed with scotch tape. She tore that open next and gasped at what she saw inside.

She reached in with careful hands and pulled out a green baby blanket, clearly homemade. Knitted or crocheted, Murphy couldn’t tell the difference. She rubbed it with her delicate fingers and Murphy unconsciously did the same with his free hand.

“It’s so pretty,” Emori said, wiping at her eyes. “We’re so lucky. Nica look baby, Uncle Bell made you a blanket!”

Murphy grabbed the blanket and spread it across his chest where Nica was resting. Her teeny little fingers clenched at the fabric instinctively.

“I think she likes it,” he said. _Damn it_ , now he was starting to cry too.

Emori leaned against his shoulder, where she wiped her tears on his sweater. “I love our family so much.”

“I know, baby.” Murphy leaned back so Nica was secure on his chest and he could wrap his free arm around Emori. “You made her perfect, you know that? I love you both so much.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Murphy shook his head. “And you’ll never have to. You two are the most important people in my life; I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good.” Emori yawned and slouched against his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere either.”

“I love you, Emori.”

She didn’t respond, but only a few seconds later he heard the slightest hint of a snore. Murphy smiled to himself, looking down at his girls. He stroked Emori’s hair and adjusted Nica’s striped blue and pink newborn hat so it wouldn’t fall off. Nica’s bright blue eyes almost seemed to meet his gaze when his fingers brushed over her.

His own eyes watered at how complete he felt in this moment. This was his family, his child, his own flesh and blood. “Merry Christmas, baby girl.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Beautiful People! ❄️❄️❄️
> 
> I hope this little bit of Christmas fluff! Which by the way is inspired by a true story. This was prompted by a lovely donor who would like to remain anonymous. Thanks Nonnie; I had a lot of fun with this!
> 
> The 100 Fic for BLM Initiative is going strong, and we would love to take your prompts in exchange for your donations to a good cause. Please check out our [carrd](https://t100fic-for-blm.carrd.co/) if you are interested! You can also find me on tumblr [@mobi-on-a-mission](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/mobi-on-a-mission).
> 
> Much Love!  
> -Mobi ❤️


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